While I am not Roman Catholic, I do believe Pope John Paul II correctly diagnosed our current culture. He wrote in Evangelium Vitae on the loss of the sense of God, the loss of the sense of humanity, and the loss of conscience. The three concepts are interrelated.
The idea of the conscience is found in 1 Timothy 4:2, Romans 2:14-15, Titus 1:15, and John 16:8. Conscience is also alluded to in Exodus 7.
On a practical level, modern scientific research has confirmed that we can become desensitized to violence with repeated exposure to violence. A common example is in video games and television (and now in online videos). Research consistently shows that children especially are exposed to repeated violence during formative years and that it has a desensitizing effect on them.
We allow our consciences to be seared when we permit ourselves to hold inconsistent ideologies. Thus, pluralism leads us further away from a sense of God. Compartmentalization in today’s culture particularly enables us to allow or justify certain acts apart from morality or faith because morality and faith are maintained in separate compartments.
In Christianity, we understand that our conscience is the voice of the Lord in our lives. When we are nudged to avoid wrong, feel guilt from wrongdoing, or are urged to act, we believe that this is the work of the Holy Spirit guiding us to Christ and to right action. In John 16:8, Christ Himself taught that the work of the Holy Spirit in this world is to convict of sin. Thus, conviction of sin is from the Holy Spirit.
Pope John Paul II’s argument was that because we have lost a sense of conscience the result is a loss of the sense of God and a loss of the sense of humanity. “Those who allow themselves to be influenced by this climate easily fall into a sad vicious circle: when the sense of God is lost, there is also a tendency to lose the sense of man, of his dignity and his life; in turn, the systematic violation of the moral law, especially in the serious matter of respect for human life and its dignity, produces a kind of progressive darkening of the capacity to discern God’s living and saving presence.” https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html
We believe generally that as the conscience is ignored it becomes seared and employs a lesser role in guiding us away from evil. Thus, more and more evil acts are enabled because remorse and guilt are also lost.
In Romans 1:18-21, we read that everything which humanity knows about God is placed there by God. Thus, when humanity suppresses this knowledge and seeks out the opposite, moral decay follows. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Thus, if we believe that God does not exist and justify atheism or agnosticism, it is because we have suppressed the image of God which was placed in our hearts by God.
Theologians throughout history disagree on the mechanics of how we can get back to God once we reach such a state. To the extent we are able to turn to God on our own, we must do that to avoid any further decay and to turn ourselves and society around back to morality. Not turning toward God risks permanent separation from God. It is agreed that we must have the aid of the Holy Spirit to turn to God.
However, hope is conveyed in John 12:32 in that Christ is ever drawing us. Some theologians believe that we are incapable of having fellowship with God restored unless He draws us or first works in our hearts. However, it is clear from Scripture that He is ever drawing us.
I contend that, if we are interested in turning to God, it is direct evidence that God is at work in our hearts. Sin is enough of a barrier to restoring fellowship with God. We do not also need theological barriers when there is hope or interest in turning to God. The hope or interest alone is sufficient evidence that God is actively enabling us to have fellowship with Him restored.
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